I'm already starting to think of my options for planting a small vegetable garden next summer. My major problem is that I don't have a ton of sun. There are several spots in my yard that grow more weeds than others, so I'm assuming those are also the spots that get more sun during the day. Most appropriately is probably the alley next to my house. There's already a "bed" next to the path, and it grows a ton of weeds. It doesn't get heaps of sun, but probably more than anywhere in the back yard.

... and so, before the ground freezes...
Is there anything I should do this fall to prepare the ground for next spring?
Though more importantly -- is it impossible to grow vegetables in only a partly sunny area?

I live in Upstate NY so that's also a weather related factor in choosing vegetables. I'd love to grow some herbs and tomatoes and beans and things...

It is the next growing season for me!

What to do to prepare the ground for next season:

-Put a thick layer of newspapers over the area where you want your garden, and cover that with about 4-6 inches of organic material such as horse manure or compost. Just let it sit there over the winter, and then dig it under in the Spring.

I'm working on some small gardens in part shade, and I've had really good success with things like lettuce, mustard, kale, collards, herbs such as parsley and lemon balm. The only things that did especially badly in part shade were summer squash, okra, and eggplant. These need a lot of sun. Tomatoes did fairly well for me though most books say they need full sun. Pole beans will probably do better in part shade than bush beans. Garlic seems to be going crazy in part shade, it's lovin' it!

Here's a list from a shade-gardenign book on what to try in part shade/half shade:

Beets
Sweet cicely
Cucumbers
Turnips
lettuce
comfrey
kale
radishes
scallions/green nions
shallots
chives
leeks
broccoli
cress
carrots
sweet potatoes
spinach
zucchini
cabbage
mustard
sorrel
parsley
sage
rosemary
thyme
savory
borage
lovage
fennel
oregano
lemon balm
elderberries
loquat
strawberries
raspberries
blueberries
blackberries

Whew! That should give us plenty to choose from for our shade gardens!

Yay! If I don't need to dig anything up until spring, then I can hold off on buying any tools. I'm sure I can come up with some newspaper, and get some compost and gardening gloves. I'd really like to try tomatoes. My dad always yips that sweet potatoes won't grow cause its not hot enough. I don't especially like growing leafy greens/lettuce because no matter how much you wash it, you always are eating bugs. :o
I would like strawberries though... yum yum.

If you are in the US, you could take a soil sample to the country extention office and get a breakdown of the soil. I'm not sure if there is a fee for this or not, try calling.

I'd work the ground now. Buy a shovel or rent a rototiller. Rake out all the weeds and compost them. Come spring, do the same thing and rake out more weeds. Less weeds == less work.

If it is your first garden, start small. For tools, all you need is a good sharp shovel, a good hoe, and a few sticks with twine between them to lay out rows.

Don't discount container gardening either. It can be the best way to grow some herbs. Regular plants can be grown in containers as well, I have a cherry tomato on my porch that is probably over 8' from root to tip. Save money by salvaging containers. The cherry tomato is in an old tupperware container whose bottom cracked after the plastic became brittle. Its on a concrete porch behind a low brick wall that hides it from the neighbors. It I had really wanted to conceal it, I could have planted some mint in there and let it grow over the sides, but it is well hidden now.

I'm still waiting for a good killing frost in Tennessee before I can start cleaning up my garden. My tomatoes are still green, and the okra is still producing. About 1/2 of my garden still has crops on it. I did pull up all my hot peppers today, so that's something. Next year's garden is going to get a dog-resistant fence around it. This year's fence wasn't dog resistant. :(